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The History of Thaelis-Y'Aada
The Time before Time This period of time is so named because it occurred before even the first oral records of history were laid down by the first orcish sages to track the turning of the cycles. It exists largely as a collection of myths and legends broadly agreed upon by all cultures across Thaelis-Y'Aada, though the exact details of this period are contested. The Primordial Void First, there was the Void - a fathomless and chaotic realm of utter blackness which stretched infinitely in all directions, within which unspeakable and obscenely proportioned beings drifted in peaceful slumber and light-less paradise. Time, contrast and order did not exist, nor did definition of any sort. The Emergence of Tey'Kor-Akx For some unknown reason, eventually from within the Void's black silence was a disturbance. Tey'Kor-Akx, whose form was at its birth one of absolute perfection, pulled itself from the depths, setting in motion by its very existence the working of inviolable cosmic laws. The odd beasts of the Void looked upon Tey'Kor-Akx, and their minds were shattered by its appearance. The Birth of the Primordials and of Creation Tey'Kor-Akx's unrelenting influence forged the stars and the planets, and within the universe the galaxy of Nablorix was born, its cosmic bodies forged from the material bodies of nine tremendous spirits pulled from the beyond by Tey'Kor-Akx's undeniable will. These Primordials existed both within the physical and astral planes simultaneously, such was their magnitude. The first of the Primordials was Mithras, whose body was the pure force of light, emanating from the Sun. The second was Oblivion, its form a fathomless cloak of shadow and its single unblinking eye the Moon. Third came Urana, whose body was the sky and the lower heavens which created spherical atmospheres in space. Fourth came forth Dagon, whose body of water condensed from lighter grades of matter. Fifth came the stony mass of Niitoh, whose body divided itself between various planets. Sixth and seventh came Immol and Sif, whose rivalry gave birth to heat and cold, fire and ice. Tey'Kor-Akx imprisoned the Flame of Immol inside Niitoh's belly, and Sif was left without its enemy to race around Niitoh's exterior. Eighth came the etheric body of Duroon, who took residence within the astral realms, making its home amongst the stars. Finally, the ninth spirit whose name was Oroboros came forth from the Void as a stream of vital life energy. Eight of the Primordials embraced Creation, but Oblivion was angry at having been left to rule only shadows, and rebelled against Tey'Kor-Akx's will, becoming known as the Adversary. Despite the imperfection of its progressing Creation, the World-Weaver knew that with time all would be made right, and bound the Primordials together by Law. The spirits of Nablorix forged the planets Xenox, Marth, Toephus, Cefluan, Pravus and of course, Thaelis-Y'Aada itself. The Age of the Ancient Ones This period, in the furthest reaches of rumoured history, was said to stretch such a long period of time that it seems fathomless to the current inhabitants of Thaelis-Y'Aada. During this time, it was believed that the Tey'Kor-Akx, Primordials and gods existed, but their presence was restricted to the astral realms, and few within the material world knew of them in any deep capacity. During this time, it is said that Tey'Kor-Akx created a single race that dominated all lands and ruled over all plants and beasts which came before them. The name of this species is forgotten and they are now known only as the Ancient Ones, but what is known is that they came to venerate Tey'Kor-Akx and its ideals to the extent that it granted them the development of great technologies, far in advance of anything available to races within the world today. The Cataclysm The Ancient Ones, rashly using their great technologies which harnessed the powers of the soul using the special properties of diamonds, drew the astral too close to the physical plane, culminating in an event which somehow resulted in their disappearance, as they now cannot be found either within the world or in the astral. The event, whose exact nature is unknown, is now known as the Cataclysm, and radically altered the constitution not only of Thaelis-Y'Aada, but also planets beyond. Some say that one planet was entirely destroyed during the upheaval, and this has led theologians to believe that the Ancient Ones were tempted into creating the Cataclysm by Oblivion and its demons. The reality is that they accidentally opened a gateway to the Void, and glimpsed the lacunae which lay beyond their world. The very nature of these titanic and ineffable beings blended the real with the imaginary and altered the speed and course of evolution itself. Time was distorted, physical laws governing weather and tectonics rewritten, and the material and spiritual realms melded. The very orbits of the galaxy were fundamentally altered, changing the way that time was to be recorded. The Watchers The only trace that was left behind by the Ancient Ones in their shattered world were the great creatures they are said to have created during the last cycles of their world-spanning empire. These five great races are now referred to as the "Watchers", for it is said that they contain within them the power to hold the astral and the material world as separate and halted the utter destruction of Thaelis-Y'Aada in the wake of the Cataclysm. These beasts ruled the land, sky and oceans in the days before the creation of younger sapient species, in their own fashion offering worship to the Primordial spirits and warring with the numerous gods which sought to set foot in the physical world, an eventuality which they feared would usher in Annihilation. The greatest among their number are known to have long since become godlike spirits in their own right. The five types of Watcher are detailed below. The Watchers are extraordinary for one characteristic in particular - that they possess hearts of diamond, the magical substance of the Ancient Ones which can no longer be found within the underworld as it was in the Age of Ancients. In addition, the Watchers are though to have been the five races which invented the primary paths of magic pursued by magicians the world over in modern times. The Trolls Trolls are thought to be the oldest entities within Thaelis-Y'Aada, a belief that clashes somewhat with accounts of the Ancient Ones and causes confusion amongst scholars worldwide. These creatures are roughly humanoid, but range in size from a few feet tall to the size of a house. They vary greatly in morphology also, some sporting tusks while others flapping ears, some being hairy and others possessing rubbery skin. Their limbs and faces are often deformed and they are frequently mistaken for undead by the ignorant and common folk. Trolls, although savage and ravenous in their infancy, are said to never die by natural causes, and gain unfathomable intellect over thousands of cycles. Most of the knowledge of the Ancient Ones the orcs have received and uncovered came from the minds of the wisest among the trolls. Trolls claim that Tey'Kor-Akx taught them the art of chronomancy, the sacred gift of the oracles, and this has led many to believe them the material agents of the World-Weaver itself, constantly working in mysterious ways to stay Annihilation and redeem Creation. The oldest trolls are unmatched in their magical ability, and . In esoteric circles, magicians accord the Fifth element at centre of the circle, that of Spirit, to the troll. The Cheperas Cheperas are great bipedal insects which used to swarm the skies above Thaelis-Y'Aada but now are confined to the caverns of the deep underworld, where they were driven by the gods in the wake of the War Between Worlds, and where they carved great cities using their diamond-hard claws to dig through solid rock. These creatures created the underworld, a network of tunnels and caverns which runs beneath the surface of every continent upon Thaelis-Y'Aada, and are credited with holding the most advanced secrets of evocation magic, which they garnered from yawning gateways they discovered in the deepest chasms of the subterranean realms and the unnameable spirits which lay there dreaming. In the early times the cheperas are thought to have created all manner of insects which fly, skitter and crawl. In esoteric circles, it is common to accord the quarter facing east, that representing Air, to the chepera. The Leviathans Leviathans are enormous marine beasts and the largest creatures alive within Thaelis-Y'Aada, the oldest among them dwarfing even the most terrible of dragons. They drift dreaming through the world's oceans, immune in adulthood to the predation of other animals. Leviathans created the art of psychomancy, which granted other races their own capacity to transmit their thoughts and emotions to the minds of others. It is thought that the leviathans speak to each other using sonic frequencies which have evolved to transmit infinite fathoms of information across the oceans in mere seconds, and that their minds are connected as one great understanding. The Leviathans are thought to have in the early times created various fish and marine mammals. In esoteric circles, it is common to accord the quarter facing west, that representing Water, to the leviathan. The Salamanders Salamanders were the progenitors of dragons, which came to be kings over reptile-kind, and the first Watchers to take it upon themselves to forge other species in their own image as weapons against the gods. To this end, they honed the magical arts of necromancy, which granted them mastery over life and death. Unfortunately, this would later lead to many of their draconic children becoming obsessed with avoiding mortality, and this primal fear gave birth to a plethora of other vices amongst their kind. Nevertheless, the salamanders were proud of their creations and to the modern days endure within hidden places of the world. The hearts of the salamanders were split and gifted to their dragon children. While the salamanders created amphibian life, their dragon children gave rise to reptiles. In esoteric circles, it is common to accord the quarter facing south, that representing Fire, to the salamander. The Eldritch Eldritch are sentient trees, whose seeds are fabled to have given birth to all forests upon Thaelis-Y'Aada in the ruinous wake of the Cataclysm. Said to have originated as the offspring of Yisildragg, the Tree of Life and Death, "Oak which Stands at the Centre of Worlds", they are mostly content to slumber in modern days, but in the deep past created the arts of witchcraft as a means of teaching lesser races how to harmonise appropriately with nature. The greatest of the eldritch are known to be the great sleeping oaks which dream in the orcish homeland of Urchano. It is said that all trees eventually trace their lineage back to the eldritch. In esoteric circles, it is common to accord the quarter facing north, that representing Earth, to the oak. The Giants Among the first spirits to step over the bridge between worlds were the jotuns, now known to the common folk of the world as giants. As the servants of the nine Primordials, the giants were met with little or no hostility by the Watchers, and built their civilisations in wild pockets of the world. They were to come into conflict with the dragons when the great beasts aggrandised themselves as the chosen, superior servants of the Primordials. Alongside the giants existed the great seraphs of Mithras and the tenebrous voivodes of Oblivion, which inhabited respectively the high and dark places of the world. The Gods and the War Between Worlds The greatest danger to the Watchers in the ancient times were the gods, mighty spirits most of which sprouted from the elemental essence of two or more Primordials within the astral plane. These spirits were born with power much greater than that held by other spirits and thought themselves the rightful rulers of the material world as well and the astral, most holding little regard even for their own parents. When these ego-driven and self-centred spirits attempted to break through into the physical world, a great war raged between their number and the Watchers, leading to many gods which could not be banished being imprisoned within tombs deep within the earth of Thaelis-Y'Aada. During the war, the giants were allies to the Watchers, but the dragons refused to fight against the gods, preoccupied with their own schemes. This earned them the enmity of not only the giants but also their Watcher brethren. The Dragon War The corruption of dragon-kind and the seduction of five of nine primeval dragons to the Dark led to the birth of profane sorcery, and a great series of battles which raged in the skies above all lands. Led by the gwythaints, the great dragons of shadow, the kulshedras (fire dragons), linnorms (earth dragons), nagas (sea dragons) and negafooks (frost dragons) sought the destruction of the wyverns (air dragons), jabberwocks (dream dragons), nidhoggs (stone dragons) and verethras (light dragons). The Dragon War raged until both sides were so decimated that the conflict ended in a stalemate. The Dragon War saw the emergence of the first apophi, undying dragons who, using demon-tainted necromancy, removed their diamond hearts from their bodies in order to attain the immortality of living death. This baneful magic would form the basis of the rituals developed later by mortal necromancers seeking to become hideous koschei. The Rebirth of Early Sapient Humanoids During the time before time, the Primordials, Watchers and dragons brought forth through mysterious means species which walked upright and possessed their own measure of will and resemblance to the once-reigning Ancient Ones. In addition, animal life, through the alien worship of its own gods, developed its own advanced form of intelligence. The early species of the world are listed below. * Astacus - These bizarre marine creatures evolved by some unknown means, but apparently revere no gods. They appear as large sentient lobsters. * Iku-Turso - These terrible octopoid horrors were created by the goddess Kraken in the deepest parts of the ocean. They resemble a cross between men, crustaceans and squid. * Morkoth - These hideous fish-like bipeds are the slaves of the iku-turso, and dwell at the bottom of the sea. Their possession of walking legs disturbs those who know of their existence. * Myconid - The fungus-folk are the children of Duroon, the primordial dream. They were born of the subterranean fungus fields amid clouds of hallucinogenic spores. * Kauket - These frog-men were the creation of the salamanders, and their first attempt at creating life. Having existed since before the dragons, they are extremely bizarre in their culture. * Typhon - These snake-like dracoids were created by the primeval dragon Tiamat, first of the naga bloodline. * Sirrush - The lizard-like barbarians of Vaishun were the spawn of Ladon, the primeval dragon of the linnorm bloodline. * Ameret - These skink-like dracoids were created by Saoshyant, primeval dragon and first of the verethran bloodline. * Troglodyte - These swine-like reptilian savages were created by the primeval dragon Zoor'Ztsh, first of the gwythaint bloodline. * Chthon - The tortoise-like dracoids of the underworld were created by Ningishzida, the first, primeval dragon of the nidhogg bloodline. * Qalupalik - The insect-like dracoids of the frozen wastes were the spawn of Aipaloovik, the primeval dragon of the negafook bloodline. * Kobalos - The greedy, thieving dracoids of the underworld were created by Mamonar, the primeval dragon of the kulshedra bloodline. * Chamrosh - The feathered shryke-folk were the creations of primeval Quetzalcoatl, the first dragon of the wyvern bloodline. * Shast - The folk of the First Flame were created by Immol, the primordial fire. * Grey - The dreadful shape-changers from a previous reality. * Sprite - These small winged fey were created by Nyara'Tang, the primeval jabberwock, but chose to remain largely within the astral. * Aurot - These winged, headless humanoids were created amongst the clouds by Urana. * Araun - The short but brawny dwarves of the underworld were created by Niitoh. * Ramid - These weasel-folk evolved from rodents with the worship of their god Ton'Ath'Ek. * Nezumi - These rat-people evolved from vermin with the worship of Rezoul, their goddess. * Kitsune - The deceptive fox-folk evolved long ago from animal foxes due to the ascension of their god Keluxax. * Bavaan'See - These vampiric deer-folk were created by Oblivion. * Minotaur - The cattle-folk of Araia were born of Oroboros, the primordial earth. * Sifling - The people of ice were created for unknown purpose by Sif, the primordial winter. * Triton - The fish-like merfolk of the seas were created by Dagon, the primordial waters. * Tollan - The nymph-like people of sunlight were created by Mithras, the primordial Sun. * Maahes, Kirata, Mafdet, Narasihm and Matagot - These feline warriors of Nanak and Haneiya evolved alongside their cat deity, Shiva, from the bodies of sabre cats, tigers, cheetahs, lions and panthers, respectively. * Zimbwi - The primitive hyena savages evolved alongside their deity, Leucrotta. * Raspel - The rabbit-folk evolved from small mammals through worship of Tinser. * Cyclops - These one-eyed, snouted cave-dwellers were created by the trolls. * Orc - These primitive but wise folk were created by the trolls as the inheritors of magic. * Other Species - These included the drii, j'tengu, escargot, chish, demigi, iktomi, girestab, aroe, ahoy-wut, gripulese, besloor, chlufroc, cheilith, buamel, eraow, it'ept, parede and lepid. Few endure to modern times. The Dawn of Recorded History * Solfar * Talfar * Kyasid * Dorogar * Pech * Ogre * Human The Birth of Humanity's Subraces * Adlivun (Aspect of Water) * Taianese (Aspect of Light) * Nord (Aspect of Ice) * Kazadi (Aspect of Stone) * Ayani (Aspect of Fire) * Indran (Aspect of Dream) * Totanic (Aspect of Earth) * Myrkish (Aspect of Dark) * Duzakh (Aspect of Air)